Dragon Ball FighterZ Review – Kamehame Hell Yeah

This title was reviewed on Nintendo Switch, but is also available on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.

Again, yeah, we did technically already review this (Check it out here), and as such, this review is gonna be a bit shorter than my normal ones, because this will mostly be talking about how it performs on the Switch in comparison to other consoles; it’s less of a review of the game and more of a comparison based on what it’s available on. With that out of the way, let me be blunt: I really love this game on the Switch. The controls for the most part handle well, the graphics are hardly scaled down at all, and with some new features exclusive to the Switch, it gives a pretty damn good case for buying it.

So first, of course, some background for all 2 of you who don’t know about this magnificent masterpiece of a fighting game. Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 2.5D 3v3 fighting game made by Arc System Works. The game is, obviously, based around the Dragon Ball Z/Super characters, and uses two players’ teams of 3 characters for it’s basis. From there, it’s a fighting game. With fantastic mechanics, unique playstyles with each character, constantly evolving meta, and a fantastically fun competitive scene. It is without a doubt my favorite fighting game.

With that done, let’s get to it. In short, the game is obviously the same on the Switch, with some minor differences. The biggest difference is the addition of “Easy Controls,” an optional control option that allows for easier combo and special move execution on the Switch joycons. I didn’t personally use it because I’m a big, beefy man who doesn’t need training wheels. The controls are surprisingly fluid when it comes to the analog sticks, as they feel much more similar to tighter, stiffer 8-way joysticks than the usual controller analog sticks, which tend to feel loose and free, for obvious reasons. This stiffer control scheme on the Joycons allows for easy and precise input execution on the analog sticks, which I love to death, because I much prefer analog to D-Pad. This hold even truer on the Switch; trying to play with the D-Pad when you’re using joycons is the rough equivalent of trying to seduce a cactus; it isn’t very effective, and you end up feeling much more pain than you did before you tried. The buttons on the D-Pad simply aren’t close enough to each other, or even connected for that matter, so executing even a quarter circle is a Herculean task which I was not willing to undertake.

I should also note that, be it in Ranked or Casual, unlike other console versions, you don’t have a limit on rematches. Generally, once you or your opponent wins 3 matches, you have to fight someone else. On Switch, you can kick their ass or get your ass kicked for as many rounds as you like. Outside of this, there isn’t much else to talk about. D-Pad: Bad. Analog: Great. Everything runs smooth and feels just as fast paced and fun as it does on the big boy systems. On top of all this, I decided to start out playing Ranked online to see if I was any better or worse on this system; turns out I’m a bit better with a good analog to work with. The D-Pad on Xbox is garbage too, and the analog, as I said, is too loose to do accurate inputs, so while I am ranked as Supreme Kai on that system, I found myself doing much better on Switch; Out of the 20 matches of Ranked I played, I won all of them. My combos were more precise and quick to execute, my block game was stronger than it usually is, and everything just felt much tighter as a whole. The same also goes for the Pro Controller; it performs admirably both with the D-Pad (the buttons are all connected) AND the Analog.

So, that’s about it. If you like the sound of the tighter, more precise controls, buy it. If you have a need or want to play this game on the go, buy it. If you’re like me and have a girlfriend who likes to steal your PS4 before you get home from work so you don’t have the heart to kick her off and need something to do instead of winding down with that for an hour, buy it. If you love the game as much as I do, buy it. It performs well, controls much better in my opinion, and is all around just a solid port. Until next time, I kamehame-have to go learn how to play Cooler properly.